inventory
Americannoun
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inventories
plural
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a complete listing of merchandise or stock on hand, work in progress, raw materials, finished goods on hand, etc., made each year by a business concern.
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the objects or items represented on such a list, as a merchant's stock of goods.
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the aggregate value of a stock of goods.
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raw material from the time of its receipt at an industrial plant for manufacturing purposes to the time it is sold.
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a detailed, often descriptive, list of articles, giving the code number, quantity, and value of each; catalog.
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a formal list of movables, as of a merchant's stock of goods.
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a formal list of the property of a person or estate.
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a tally of one's personality traits, aptitudes, skills, etc., for use in counseling and guidance.
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a catalog of natural resources, especially a count or estimate of wildlife and game in a particular area.
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the act of making a catalog or detailed listing.
verb (used with object)
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inventories,
present (3rd person singular)
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inventoried,
past participle, past
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inventorying
present participle
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to make an inventory of; enter in an inventory; catalog.
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to take stock of; evaluate.
to inventory one's life and accomplishments.
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to summarize.
to inventory the progress in chemistry.
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to keep an available supply of (merchandise); stock.
verb (used without object)
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inventories,
present (3rd person singular)
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inventoried,
past participle, past
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inventorying
present participle
noun
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a detailed list of articles, goods, property, etc
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(often plural) accounting
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the amount or value of a firm's current assets that consist of raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods; stock
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such assets individually
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verb
Usage
What does inventory mean? An inventory is a complete list of all merchandise or stock of items owned by or available from a business. At a store, an inventory is the complete list of all items for sale at the store. At a manufacturer, an inventory is a complete list of all the raw materials they have, as well as finished items and items being created. An inventory is also the specific set of products to sell, as in The store’s inventory of superhero capes is running low and will probably sell out soon. An inventory can also refer to figurative belongings, such as a person’s personality traits and skills. To inventory means to add things to an inventory list, whether a literal or figurative list, as in I inventoried my options for colleges and chose the school I’ll attend next year. Example: Can you take inventory tonight so we can be ready for the rush tomorrow?
Synonym Usage
See list 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preinventorynoun
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inventoriableadjective
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inventorialadjective
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overinventoriedadjective
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inventoriallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inventorysimple
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inventoriessimple
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have inventoriedperfect
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has inventoriedperfect
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am inventoryingprogressive
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are inventoryingprogressive
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is inventoryingprogressive
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have been inventoryingperfect progressive
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has been inventoryingperfect progressive
Past
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inventoriedsimple
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had inventoriedperfect
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was inventoryingprogressive
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were inventoryingprogressive
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had been inventoryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of inventory
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English inventorie, from Medieval Latin inventōrium; see invent, -tory 2
Explanation
An inventory is an itemized list of everything you have. So you better take inventory of what’s in the fridge before going grocery shopping. Otherwise you'll end up with more jars of mustard that you don't need. The noun form of inventory developed in the early 15th century from the Middle French inventaire, meaning “detailed list of goods.” It's most commonly used in retail: a shop's inventory is everything that they have in stock, ready to sell. You can also use inventory as a verb when you want to describe the act of listing out the merchandise or supplies you have on hand.
Vocabulary lists containing inventory
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Despite ongoing challenges in the Middle East, this marked the second-largest crude inventory build in history, according to Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
These companies may try to absorb some of the cost to protect their market share and work through existing inventory.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
The detected signal closely matched detailed simulations that accounted for the remaining nuclear fuel inventory and the decay of long-lived fission products.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
U.S. natural gas futures retreated after the EIA reported an above-estimate 36 Bcf weekly inventory build, extending the storage surplus to 198 Bcf from 195 Bcf, despite hot weather spurring high electricity demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
She took inventory of the people around her.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
A surprise build in U.S. commercial crude inventories also helped keep oil futures in check last week.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
The EIA showed a surprise — and major — build in U.S. commercial inventories of oil, thanks to fewer crude exports and a jump in imports, mostly from Venezuela.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
Measurements of this kind could become valuable for independently confirming reactor status and tracking spent-fuel inventories.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Small-business owners in Russia have lamented how their inventories were wiped out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
After restlessly starting and stopping concession inventories and making a few phone calls about delays in film deliveries, she did the only thing left to her and decided to watch a movie.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
“Helfenstein also evaluated and inventoried looted items, and arranged for their packing and shipment to Germany.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
In total, the rescission would apply to nearly 45 million acres of the nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest system, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025
Andrew Fountain, a geology professor emeritus at PSU, and research assistant Bryce Glenn, inventoried glaciers and perennial snowfields in the western continental U.S. using aerial and satellite imagery between 2013 and 2020.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2023
The GAO inventoried the concerns in a September 2022 report.
From Salon ● May 3, 2023
He had inventoried all that he had, or didn’t have.
From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen
The plan provides for the inventorying and storage of its remaining heavy weapons under Palestinian supervision, potentially removing the most significant obstacle to advancing the Trump-backed peace initiative for Gaza.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
"Carbon inventorying is still an evolving science," said Yunyu Zhang, lead author and graduate student from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2024
One by one, family members and friends speak this line to Vanya before inventorying their own monumental unhappiness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
He went from working as a signals analyst to a job that few Marines want, inventorying military gear.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023
She held me at arm’s length, inventorying every little new freckle, every extra pound.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
